The evolution of diffusion of innovations theory and its binary logic
A closer look at the history of diffusion research reveals that the idea of adoption as a binary decision cannot be traced back to the very beginning. The French sociologist Gabriel de Tarde, generally considered a forefather of diffusion research, had a much wider understanding of what constitutes an innovation and what users could do with an innovation. Thinking in terms of metaphors rather than hypotheses and operationalization, Tarde considers innovations as waves that spread among society. Using this metaphor, he expresses two advanced but long- forgotten ideas:
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Innovations may change in the course of diffusion. This may happen when they reach new users (just as waves change their form when entering a new medium) or when they interfere with other innovations.
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The importance of adopters for the evolution of innovations is much greater than generally thought. In an extreme case, the inventor generates only a quasi-accidental impulse that develops its force in the course of spreading throughout society, just as a butterfly flapping its wings may lead to a landslide, in the words of Tarde (1902, p. 562).